Just what the heck is pickslanting anyway?
Plus, Tim Pierce shows us how to use fear to our advantage
Back in action
I’m so happy to be back in full force with the newsletter. After a week or two of being knocked out with covid, I’m finally starting to feel like myself again. I’ve got a brand new set of strings on my main guitar, and have been easing myself back into playing. What have you been up to this week?
Did you see the recent chat I sent out? It’s a fun feature of Substack, something like a mini social network where we can discuss guitar stuff in between newsletters. I’m going to mess around with these and see where they go!
I’ve collected a couple of my favorite links for this week’s issue. There’s a bunch of lessons that’ll make you a better player if you put in the time. Let’s get into this week’s links!
This week’s links:
- 5 TIPS and LICKS to understand PICKSLANTING - Pickslanting - you've heard about it, and you want to learn about it (trust me, you really do!) Whether it be from the king of pickslanting, Troy Grady, or the likes of Ben Eller and other teachers on YT, pickslanting has always been a hot topic amongst guitarists over the past few years. In this video, Justin Hombach shows us 5 licks that all utilize pickslanting to get you started on your journey. Make sure to check out his related videos (the one on speed picking) to get an even better breakdown.
- The 3 Alternate Picking Strategies You NEED for SPEED! - Speaking of guys like Ben Eller, he recently came out with a video that's helpful for nearly any guitar player. You might already be aware of alternate picking, but Ben shows us 3 of his strategies to make alternate picking work better for our playing. With what Ben shows us, you'll be able to play faster, and make even simple licks sound more complex. These are an easy couple of concepts that'll fit right into your practice schedule.
- The Blues! 5 of my favorite licks and ideas you can USE for soulful guitar playing - I watch nearly every Guthrie Trapp video that comes out. He relies heavily on CAGED, and in this specific video talks all about 5 really useful blues phrases you can use. Guys like Trapp, Josh Smith, Kirk Fletcher and more are playing some of the coolest blues licks of the last decade or so.
- Brad Paisley Basics!! An Intro Lesson to Sounding like Brad. WS ep.97 - Want to sound like one of country's greatest shredders? Who better to teach us how to sound like Brad Paisley, than another killer player, Andy Wood. Andy gives us a bootcamp into Brad's style. Brad was the country guitar player that got me interested in country at all, so I really loved watching Andy break down his playing. The G bender emulation was really cool.
- The Best Advice I Ever Had For Playing Fast Tempos - Seems like we have a lot of videos this week based around playing fast! This video is from Jens Larsen, who checks out the classic John Petrucci guitar video. Even though Jens is a jazz player, he learned a bunch from Petrucci, and how it could work for his own scale work. This is what I love about these types of videos...even if you're not a fan of jazz, metal, or Brad Paisley country like the link above...you can always make an idea, technique, phrase, etc. your own.
- FEAR Drove Me To Do This--And It WORKED! - Longtime session guy Tim Pierce gives some great advice on how fear drove him to be "bulletproof" for an upcoming live gig. Great advice from a legendary guitarist.
- Julian Lage - "Seven Come Eleven" on Charlie Christian's 1940 Gibson ES-250 - Skip ahead to around 3 minutes to see the band come alive. I love Julian's playing on “Seven Come Eleven”, but what really made it special is that he's playing Charlie Christian's Gibson ES-250 from 1940!
- Opinions on The 50 Greatest Guitarists - Lists are often a vehicle to make people talk about who was and wasn't on them. I liked watching SamuraiGuitarist talk about the top 50 guitarists of all time. I love lists like these because you might not have heard of some of the players on them, or it gives you the chance to revisit some of the players you might not have listened to in a while.
- Megadeth Guitarist Kiko Loureiro's Shredding Secrets - Kiko Loureiro has been shredding alongside of Dave Mustaine for about 7 years at this point, and he knows a thing or two about being in a legendary metal band. He recently stopped by Rick Beato's studio to talk rhythm playing, how he practices, and a bunch more.
- Mick Goodrick is sick and is asking for your help - Mick Goodrick wrote one of my favorite, and most gifted books of all time, The Advancing Guitarist. Unfortunately we recently found out that Mick has been diagnosed with a neurological disease that is taking it's toll on him. There's a fundraiser for him on GoFundMe that's reached over $60,000 at this point, on the way to his goal of $80,000. Donate if you can, and if you've never read The Advancing Guitarist, go check it out as soon as you can - the book has so much information in it that you could study for years.
- 10 household items you can use as guitar accessories - From using a sock as a fret wrap, to using foam to reduce spring vibrations or to get a motown type of muted sound, there's a lot of ways you can be creative with household items, without ever taking a trip to the guitar store, and save yourself a little bit of cash in the process.
- Watch ZZ Top's Elwood Francis use a 17-string bass guitar onstage for Got Me Under Pressure - This isn't a guitar link per se, but I just had to share a video of ZZ Top's Elwood Francis, who's employing a 17 string bass for “Got Me Under Pressure" live.
- Steve Vai - In The Wind (Official Music Video) - Next January, Vai will be releasing his collab record with Johnny 'Gash' Sombrotto, which was originally recorded in the early nineties. If you're into feel good rock, the first single “In The Wind" is available to check out now.
- 5 mindblowing Guthrie Govan licks you need to learn - Want to really test yourself this weekend? Try and learn these 5 Guthrie Govan licks that'll have you skipping strings, playing legato lines, and working on angular ideas. Plus, at the beginning of the article GuitarTechniques gives you a short breakdown on achieving Govan's tone.
- Gretchen Menn’s Top Ten Tips for Guitarists - Gretchen Menn is a monster player - I included her in one of my lists all the way back in 2017 after hearing her play some incredible gypsy jazz. She sat down with Guitar Player to share 10 helpful tips to becoming a better guitar player.
That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading Six String Sunday Club!
Hey did you know, not only do I talk guitar each week, but I also teach it!
Try out a half an hour to see how much you can learn when you know the right things to practice. Whether you want to learn guitar, recording, mixing or more, I can help you out!
Never heard of Guthrie Trapp, but after the first few minutes of the video, I'm an instant fan. Reading some of the comments, I like the fact that you can slow video down on YouTube.